Tag Archives: Wood Badge

For the past several years, the Utah National Parks Council has worked to make its summer camps more accessible to and useful for groups from the LDS Church (our largest chartered partner). These efforts have included new buildings, programs, and materials designed for large, diverse groups. Every church group has different ideas of what they […]

I loved Mac McIntire’s latest blog post on the LDS-BSA relationships website because he talks about the power of combining Philmont and Wood Badge training—a power I have seen first-hand. He says, “Imagine a heavenly place where faithful, stake priesthood leaders—along with their families—meet in a beautiful mountain setting to learn why Scouting is so crucial to […]

In this Bishops’ Corner series we will share insights, inspiring stories, and best practices from bishops and former bishops around the Council. We hope this series will help bishops learn from and support each other as they work with the youth in their stewardship. Do you have a story or insight to share? Send your […]

The following are excerpts from an interview with the Pleasant Grove North Field Stake Presidency, President McFarland, President Thayer, and President Doman, about the stake-sponsored Wood Badge course they, and other stake members, staffed and hosted. This is part one of a series of articles about this stake presidency’s experience planning and hosting a Wood […]

Have you noticed that when you gather united in a purpose, you bring the spirit with you? Are we giving youth enough opportunities to gather together, teach, and invite the spirit into our activities, lessons, service projects, and campfires? Yesterday at the Northfield Pleasant Grove Stake Wood Badge Course, President Krist McFarland spoke on gathering […]

The Utah National Parks Council and the Great Salt Lake Council are offering bi-lingual Wood Badge courses in Spanish/English (July 18-23, 2016 at Tifie Scout Camp or September 8-10 & 15-17 at Bear Lake Aquatics Base) and ASL/English (May 12-14 and May 19-21 at Tifie Ranch). Spanish/English Are you a Spanish-speaking Scouter? Do you want a more immersive […]

It may be more than you think! Check out these blogging articles with Blogging Keys to Success, Scouting Romance and more. In the blogs, you will find Keys to Success, Scouting Romance, and more! THE ROMANCE OF SCOUTING: Sounds intriguing, huh? Well, maybe now I’ve got your attention. Really I should say, “Scouting Blogs … […]

Giving a trainer an edge is an integral part of EDGE Training. Allow me to explain a bit more. Just like the Church, BSA sees the need for any good leader to also be a good teacher, so they came up with this acronym: Two weekends ago I was with some of the the staff of […]

Just look at that picture to the left. President McFarland of the Pleasant Grove, Northfield Stake is giving our Wood Badge Staff a course mandate—his vision for the course. What a great start to a most unusual staff development. Unusual for me because, though I have been on staff many times before, other than me, every […]

Submitted By The Lehi Utah East Stake Our experience with using the Boy Scouts of America Adult and Youth Leadership Training programs in a stake-sponsored Aaronic Priesthood Leadership Encampment on a stake-wide basis has been and continues to be a great blessing for the youth and adult leadership in our stake. Our first experience with […]

In 2006, Joel Zabriskie, then president of the Highland Utah East Stake, helped his stake plan and organize a stake encampment at Bacon Park. This encampment included a Wood Badge course for stake leaders, National Youth Leadership Training (Timberline), a Varsity All Stars course, a Kodiak course for older youth, and camp activities and merit badge […]

I spent Tuesday evening with a few dozen Scouters debriefing our Wood Badge Courses for 2015, eleven in all; more than 400 Scouters attended courses in our Council this year and there is much to learn about how to do it right. All fifteen course directors for 2016 were there to learn about how things went; […]

As a professional Scouter, I expected a lot from Wood Badge. Being relatively new to Scouting, I looked to others around me to tell me what this adult training was all about. Volunteers reminisced about Wood Badge as if they were telling you how they climbed Mt. Everest last year, encouraging me by saying things […]

Recently I was asked, “Why you are still involved with Scouting? Aren’t all of your boys grown?” The answer to the second question was an easy yes. To answer the first I need to go back some years to the time before my sons became Scouts. After earning my Eagle Scout Award as a youth, I didn’t do […]

Our council has been pushing priesthood-driven Wood Badge courses for the stakes and wards in our area because they can have an amazing effect on the leaders and units involved. Just last month I participated in one for five stakes in the Great Basin area. I saw stake and ward leaders catch the vision of […]

Last Saturday morning, during the first weekend of our Woodbadge course, I had a singular spiritual experience at Tifie Scout Camp’s outdoor chapel. There among the reddening maples and in the crisp morning air, our Wood Badge staff presented these words from our founder, Baden Powell, in a Scout’s Own Worship Service: FOR an open Troop, or for Troops […]

If you are not sure about whether to sign up for Wood Badge training or if you’ve resisted registering because of myths you’ve heard about Wood Badge, here are some myths and the truths clarified, (and please consider this your invitation to join us this fall): Myth: Wood Badge is for lifelong, elite Scouters who have been around […]

My interest in Scouting started in primary. I was given a picture of George Albert Smith in his Scout uniform. I wanted to look like him in his uniform. I had a wonderful primary teacher; we did a lot of Scout like activities, so when when I graduated from primary I was excited to finally […]

Dave Pack, Scout Executive for Utah National Parks Council, Boy Scouts of America, was asked by an LDS stake president, “What does the ideal LDS Wood Badge course look like?” Following is the letter Dave wrote to the stake president: President, You asked me to describe to you what the ideal Wood Badge course would look […]

“Why get extra training?” I get that question a lot. Being a person who has been to quite a few “extra” training experiences and continues to seek out more let me tell you why. The number one reason is it helps you LOVE what you do!! Part of the reason I think people don’t enjoy […]